Paradise
by Eclipse9856
Summary: Jim, Bones and the Enterprise crew get a little more than they bargained for when they're assigned to catalog a destroyed colony. AOS AU of TOS episode 25: This Side of Paradise. A Lost Stars one-shot.
AN: This is a one shot for Lost Stars. If you haven't read that, you may not get some of the things they reference but it's not a complete necessity.

* * *

 _When she was just a girl_  
 _She expected the world_  
 _But it flew away from her reach_  
 _And the bullets catch in her teeth_

 _Life goes on, it gets so heavy_  
 _The wheel breaks the butterfly_  
 _Every tear a waterfall_  
 _In the night, the stormy night_  
 _She'd close her eyes_  
 _In the night, the stormy night_  
 _Away she'd fly_

 _And dream of para-para-paradise_

Paradise – Coldplay

* * *

"Captain, we're approaching Omicron Ceti Three," Sulu told her.

"Maintain standard orbit, Mister Sulu," Jim ordered the helmsman, who gave her a nod.

Jim really hated these types of missions. The Enterprise was assigned to catalog the destruction of a Federation colony due to deadly berthold rays that were found after the colonists left Earth. She's seen enough destroyed colonies in her lifetime. Her dad tried, and failed, to have any other ship in the area take the mission but he got overruled by the rest of the brass. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

"Captain," Uhura said.

"Yea, LT?" Jim looked at the other woman.

"I've been transmitting a contact signal every five minutes. All I get is dead air. Should I continue?" the communication specialist asked.

Jim thought about it before she nodded, "Maintain transmission pattern until we've established orbit. Mister Spock, there were one hundred and fifty men, women, and children in that colony. What are the chances of survivors?"

"None, Captain," her first officer answered. "Berthold rays are such a recent discovery. We do not yet have full knowledge of their nature. It is known, however, that living animal tissue disintegrates under exposure. Sandoval's group could not have survived after one Earth year; they have been here for three."

"Are you saying that those people built this colony here knowing they might not survive?" she asked him. And people think she's crazy.

"What I am saying, Jim, is that they knew there was a risk," Spock said.

"And what about us? Can we afford to send people to the planet's surface?" Jim asked. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to send anyone down there at all. They had the ability to do their work from the ship and Jim was greatly considering it.

"The breakdown of tissue does not develop immediately. We can risk a limited exposure," the half-Vulcan told her.

"We've established orbit, sir, and I've pinpointed a settlement," Sulu said. "Whoa."

"What?" the captain looked at him.

"I have partial lifesigns," the pilot said.

"The radiation is making it difficult for our sensors to obtain an accurate reading," Spock said.

"So, we have to go down there. Spock, put together an away team of five to accompany me. I want Bones and a biologist included. Have them meet me in the transporter room in ten."

Could it be? Could there actually be someone alive down there? Jim had two major questions. How did they survive the rays? Why weren't they answering hails?

* * *

"I still can't figure it out, Jim," her husband said.

"Me neither, Bonesy," she said as she looked around. "I mean, the berthold rays should've killed everything but the plants, according to Spock."

"According to the information available to me, Captain," her first officer pointed out.

"Same difference," Jim chuckled. "Where is everyone?"

"We're here, ma'am," a man said as he and two others walked over from behind a building. "Welcome to Omicron Ceti Three. I'm Elias Sandoval."

"Captain Jim Kirk," she said with a smile while she did a quick assessment of the man in front of her. He reached over to shake her hand and she let him. His pulse strong under her fingertips.

"We haven't seen anyone outside our group since we left Earth. We've been expecting someone for some time. Our subspace radio didn't work properly, and I'm afraid we didn't have anyone who could master its intricacies," Sandoval told her.

"Actually, Mister Sandoval, we didn't come here because of your silent radio," Jim told him.

"It makes little difference, Captain. You're here and we're happy to see you. Come, let me show you our settlement," Sandoval offered. Jim asked him to give her a minute, which he gave her, turning to her husband, her friend and her officers.

"On pure speculation, just an educated guess, I'd say that man is alive," Bones said.

"Captain, this planet is being bombarded by Berthold rays, as our reports indicated. At this intensity, we'll be safe for a week if necessary. But…" Spock started.

"But these people are alive and they shouldn't be," she finished for him.

"Is it possible that they're not?" Sulu asked her.

"You shook hands with him, Jim," Bones said. "What's your take?"

"His flesh was warm. Pulse was beating. He's alive," Jim said. "I don't even need your fancy medical degree to figure it out."

"There's also no question of the fact that Berthold rays are incontrovertibly deadly," Spock said. "There's no miracle connected with it, Doctor, you know that. No cures, no serums, no antidotes. If a man is exposed long enough, he dies."

"Well, lady," Jim said, glancing at Zahra, "and gentlemen, we're debating in a vacuum. How 'bout we go get some answers?"

"That would be wise, Captain," Spock said.

Jim smiled, "I have my moments."

* * *

"There are two other settlements but we have forty-five colonists here," Sandoval told her.

"What's the reason for the dispersal?" Jim asked as she, Spock and Bones looked around the comfortable room that reminded her of her dad's cabin in Mojave. Wait until she tells him and Gramps about this one.

"We felt three groups would have better potential. If disease were to strike one group, the others would be less likely to be affected. You see, Omicron is an ideal agricultural planet. We determined not to suffer the fate of expeditions that went before us," Sandoval said just as a beautiful woman walked into the room.

"Elias."

"Leila, come meet our guests. This is Leila Kalomi, our botanist. This is Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy, Mister Spock," Sandoval introduced them to the woman.

"Mister Spock and I have met before. I completed some of my training on Vulcan. It's been a long time," Miss Kalomi said.

"Make sure you warn me before his wife finds out about this," Bones whispered and it took every ounce of military bearing Jim had not to burst into laughter at the look Spock gave him.

"Mister Sandoval," Jim said, pulling the conversation away from the awkward reunion, "we do have a mission here. Examinations, tests."

"By all means, make them. I think you'll find our settlement an interesting one," Sandoval said. "Our philosophy is a simple; that men should return to a less complicated life. We have few mechanical things here. No vehicles, no weapons. We have harmony here. Complete peace."

Jim could understand that. It's something that she's longed for in the past and she gets why the colonist would be protective of it. Of course, Jim knows that nothing is completely peaceful and that unnerved her. The captain smiled, "We'll try not to interfere with your work."

"Thank you," Sandoval said, returning her smile. "Please, make yourselves at home."

* * *

"That'll be all. Thank you very much," Bones said to the man sitting on the stool in front of him just as Jim walked into the room.

"Anything?" Jim asked as soon as the man left.

"Nope. I've examined nine men so far, varying in ages from twenty-three to fifty-nine. They're all in perfect condition, Jim," her husband said. She opened her mouth but he shook his head. "I'm talking text book perfect, darlin'. Heart, lungs, excellent. Coordination, excellent. Reflexes, excellent. It's actually starting to creep me out."

"You? Creeped out?" Jim chuckled just as her communicator beeped. "Kirk here."

" _Spock here, Captain. There seems to be a total absence of life on the planet, with the exception of the colonists and various types of flora_ ," her first officer said.

"That's what Sulu and Kelowitz found. You got any explanations?" she asked.

" _Not at the moment, Jim. I am conducting various tests with the tricorder but results are inconclusive_ ," Spock said.

"Getting a lot of that. Keep me posted. Kirk out," Jim sighed and closed the connection.

"And the creepiness grows. I mean, no animals? Didn't they leave Earth with a bunch of animals?" Bones asked.

"Why, yes they did, Doctor," she said. "Records for this expedition indicate that they had animals for both breeding and food purposes. Apparently, none of them survived."

"You think you could get me the medical records for this place?" he asked her. Jim gave him a smile. "You got 'em already, didn't you?"

"Maybe," Jim sing-songed as she handed him her PADD. "What can I say, I know my husband."

"Yes, you do," Bones smiled as he started reading the information she just gave him.

"Captain, I've been looking for you," Sandoval said as he walked into the room. "You haven't seen our fields and crops. I'd like to show you and the Doctor what we've accomplished here."

"Doctor McCoy still has some work to do," Jim said, giving Bones an out. Mainly, she wanted him to find something to explain what was going on here. She didn't have to say it; Bones knew her well enough to hear the order without her actually giving it.

"The captain is quite right. I have some medical examinations to complete. However, if I find everyone's health to be as perfect as yours, I'll probably need a new job," Bones chuckled. "You guys go on."

"See you in a bit, Doc," she said with a wink before following Sandoval.

There was something going on here and Bones was probably the closest to being able to figure it out. If she had to endure Sandoval's too-gleeful tour of the colony until her husband and her officers could find out what's going on, that's what she'll do. Jim looked around as Sandoval led her around the settlement to their crops.

"This is the reason, Captain. This soil will grow anything we plant in it. It's a perfect world. We have a moderate climate, moderate rains all year round. It gives us all we need. It is perfect," Sandoval told her.

"No offense but there's no such thing as perfect," Jim said. "Perfection is an illusion."

"You are rather cynical for someone so young," the man said.

"No, I'm just not blindly naïve," she told him. Dying does that to a girl.

"A good trait for a captain, I suppose," Sandoval smiled as Zahra walked over.

"Pardon me, Captain," the officer looked at Jim. "The report is ready."

"If you'll excuse me," Jim said to Sandoval. He gave her a nod and walked away. "Whatcha got?"

"I heard Sandoval saying they could grow anything here. That's true," Zahra told her. "Kelowitz and I have been all over the fields. They've got a variety of crops. Grains, potatoes, beans."

"That's…" Jim called up her agricultural engineering knowledge, looking around. "Where?"

"That's what I asked. I grew up on an agricultural colony, that's why Mister Spock assigned me to come down with you. There's very little acreage actually planted. It's enough to sustain the colony but very little more."

"You got that feeling like we're missing something, Lieutenant?"

"You said it, sir, not me," the officer sighed just as Jim's communicator beeped.

"Kirk here," Jim answered.

" _It's me, Jim. I think you'd better get back here_ ," Bones said.

"Trouble?" the captain asked, she and Zahra already heading in his direction.

" _No, but I'd like you to see this for yourself_ ," her husband said.

"I'm on my way," Jim told him and closed her communicator. She and Zahra quickly made their way back to the main house where Bones had been doing all the exams. Her husband was in front of a console with a frown on his handsome face. "That's not good."

"More confused than bad," Bones sighed and turned the console. "This is Sandoval's medical record from when the expedition left Earth. He registered scar tissue on his lungs from lobar pneumonia suffered when he was a child. No major operations but there was an appendectomy. Received all required inoculations, yadda, yadda."

"I hear a 'but' coming," Jim said.

"Yep. This is the scan I did two hours ago," her husband said, pulling up the new information.

"They're different," Zahra said.

Bones nodded, "His readings were perfect, perfect, and perfect. Just like everyone else I've examined here."

"Is it a malfunction with our gear?" Jim asked.

"Thought of that already so I tested it on myself. It accurately recorded my lack of tonsils and those broken ribs from Ajilon Prime. Bunch of other stuff. It did not record the scar tissue on Sandoval's lungs, but it did record a healthy appendix where one was supposedly removed," Bones told her.

"But everything else is dead, there aren't even bugs," Zahra sighed.

"Could it be the rays?" Jim asked.

"Killing things, yes," her husband said. "The colonists' exceptional health, no."

She nodded, "The brass is gonna love this."

* * *

"You think I'm crazy," Jim chuckled into her communicator.

"No," her dad said with a smile she couldn't see. "I think you've got yourself a mystery and you're gonna do what you can to figure it out. As much as I'd like to let you, the rest of the Admiralty feels, and I agree, that you need to get those people and that ship away from Omicron Ceti Three. We're ordering a full evac. Take 'em to Twenty-seven."

"They're not gonna just up and leave. There's something keeping them here," she sighed.

"Against their will?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"Sorry, Jimmy. Orders are orders."

She scoffed, "Like I follow orders."

"I can't hear that," the admiral said, his tone anything but admonishing.

"Copy that, sir," Jim smiled. "Talk to you later, dad. Tell the moms and Gramps that I said hi."

"Will do. Pike out," he said before closing the communication from his end. Jim headed back into the main house.

"Mister Sandoval," Jim said to the man, who was in his office. "I just received orders from Starfleet Command to evacuate all personnel from this colony. Naturally, you'll inform your people to begin preparations. We will have accommodations for you aboard the Enterprise."

"No."

"This isn't some arbitrary decision on my part. I have my orders," she told him, Bones moving to stand with her.

"Captain, it's entirely unnecessary. We're in no danger here," Sandoval told her.

"We've explained the berthold rays to you and their effect," her husband tried. "Can't you understand?"

"Doctor, how can I make you understand? Your own instruments have shown that we're all in perfect health. We've had no deaths here," Sandoval said.

"What about your animals?" Jim asked.

"We're vegetarians," the leader of the colony told her.

Jim rolled her eyes, "That doesn't answer my question, sir. Why did all your animals die?"

"Captain, you stress very unimportant matters," Sandoval said. "We will not leave."

"Sandoval…" she looked at the man. No wonder she drives Spock crazy, even she's not this illogical.

"Captain, your arguments are very valid but they do not apply to us," Sandoval smiled.

"You're being unreasonable. My orders are to remove all the colonists. That's exactly what I intend to do, with or without your help," Jim said.

"Without," Sandoval looked at her, "I should think. Excuse me, I have work to attend to."

"Would you like to use a butterfly net on him, Jim?" Bones asked with a smile as they stepped outside.

"Transporter, duh," she chuckled.

"Captain, we've checked out everything," Sulu said as he and Zahra joined them. "It all seems normal, except for the absence of any animals."

"We have orders to evacuate all colonists to Starbase Twenty-seven. I want a team down here to coordinate the colonists and prepare them for transport up to the ship. We'll need extra accommodations aboard. Spock and Kelowitz?" Jim asked.

"No idea, sir," the pilot told her.

"Kelowitz said he was going to examine some native plants he found," Bones told her. "Did Spock check in at all?"

"Nope," she shook her head as she pulled out her communicator. "Kirk to Spock."

" _Yes, Captain_?" her first officer answered.

"Where are you?" Jim asked.

" _Examining flora_ ," Spock told her. " _The results remain inconclusive_."

"I need you to report back to the settlement in ten minutes. We're evacuating all colonists to Starbase Twenty-seven," she ordered.

" _Understood, Captain_. _Spock out_."

Jim commed Kelowitz next but he seemed out of it. "That's not good," she muttered. "Bones, take charge of the evac and getting those colonists aboard."

"You know, you could just send someone else after the ensign," her husband said. Jim gave him a look. "Yea, yea. I know better."

"Zahra, with me. I don't want anyone down here alone, so team up," she ordered before heading in Kelowitz's last known direction.

The two women moved through a pasture before Zahra pointed out something in the grass a few feet in front of them next to a tree. "It's his comm."

"Where is he?" Jim asked, looking around just as she heard someone laughed. "Kelowitz?"

"Hey, Cap," the officer jumped out of the tree just to Jim's left.

"Are you out of your mind, Ensign?" Zahra asked the question on the tip of Jim's tongue.

"I don't think so," Kelowitz shrugged just as someone above them giggled. Jim and Zahra shared a look.

"We're evacuating the colony. You need to get back to the settlement. We'll have words later," Jim said before looking up into the tree. "Miss Kalomi, you'll have to come back to prepare to transport up to the ship."

"There's won't be an evacuation, Jimmy, but perhaps we should go back and get you straightened out," Kelowitz smiled.

What the fuck? Kelowitz is a good guy and a solid officer, she wouldn't have him on her crew if he wasn't. So, what happened to the dependable and dedicated biologist that beamed down to this planet with her. Jim pinched the bridge of her nose before she looked at Zahra. "Miss Jamal, Mister Kelowitz is under arrest, and he's in your custody until we get back to the Enterprise."

"Understood, sir. Let's go Kelowitz," Zahra took the officer by the arm.

Kelowitz reached back for Leila, who took his hand. Jim just rolled her eyes; it was just something else she'd have to take care of later. The group made their way back to the settlement, moving through a field of flowers as they did. Jim, being the curious creature she is, leaned over to smell one with the damn things opened up and sprayed some kind of spores all over them.

Jim couldn't explain the wave of euphoria that washed over her. The peace.

"You understand now, Captain," Leila said.

Jim nodded, "Yes, I see now. Of course we can't remove the colony. It'd be wrong."

* * *

"Hiya, Jimmy!" Bones drawled with that sexy accent when she made her way back to the settlement, she'd left the others to do whatever they wanted. "I've taken care of everything. All ya gotta do is relax. Doctor's orders."

"If those are your orders, who am I to argue?" she smiled. "Are we beaming people down?"

"We are. They want to see the colony. The children, in particular, are very happy. Happier than we were when we were kids," he told her.

"Wasn't all bad. Got you outta the deal. They deserve to be happy," Jim said, pressing a soft kiss against his jaw. "Hey, I saw a lake. You wanna go swimming with me? I can't remember the last time I went swimming."

"Swimming, huh?" Bones asked with a big smile. "We don't have swimwear."

"You're right, we don't," she said with a smile. "Whatever will we do about that?"

"I might have an idea, darlin'."

"Do tell, my love."

* * *

"Almost the entire ship's complement has beamed down," Jim smiled as she sat with Sandoval in his office. After going skinny dipping for a few hours with her husband, they went back to the main house.

"I'm very pleased. The entire landing operation is proceeding quite well," Sandoval smiled.

"Where is Doctor McCoy?" Spock asked as he walked into the room. He gave her that non-look he has at her attire. There was no need to keep running around in a uniform, so Leila gave her a dress. Bones managed to get some civilian clothes too.

"Mister Spock is here," the captain chuckled. "Bones ran off to find the ingredients to make his mama's mint julep. It's an earth drink made with bourbon, mint and a bunch of other stuff. It's very yummy."

"Commander, why don't you join us?" Sandoval asked.

"In your own private paradise," the half-Vulcan said.

"Someone's upset," Jim giggled under her breath as she played with the ends of her hair.

"The spores have made this place what it is," Sandoval smiled.

"It is apparent that they thrive on berthold rays. Where did they originate?" Spock asked.

"It's impossible to say. They drifted through space until they finally landed here. The plants act as a repository for thousands of microscopic spores until they find a human body to inhabit. In return, they give you complete health and peace of mind," Sandoval explained.

"That's paradise?" Spock asked.

"We have no need or want, Commander," the leader of the colony told him.

"It's a true Eden, Spock. There's belonging and love," Jim told her friend. "If you open yourself to it."

"No wants. No needs. We were not meant for that. None of us," Spock told her. "You once told me that man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

"I was wrong," she smiled.

"No, you were not," Spock said. "There is more to this than it seems, Jim."

"We have what we need," Sandoval smiled.

"You don't understand, Spock, but you'll come around sooner or later. Join us. Join Ny and Sokel. It's so peaceful and… happy. Please," Jim told him, wrapping her hand around his arm.

"I cannot," her friend sighed. "I will return to the ship."

* * *

"He will come around," Bones said against her ear. "Spock."

"I know," Jim smiled. "I won't worry myself about it. Is everyone enjoying themselves?"

"They are," he told her just as Jim's communicator beeped. Bones answered it. "Hello?"

" _Doctor McCoy, I was attempting to contact the captain_ ," Spock said.

"She's right here, Mister Spock. How can we help you?" Bones asked.

" _I have joined you. I understand now_ ," her first officer said.

"That's wonderful, Spock. When will you beam down?" Jim asked. She was happy that he was finally happy.

" _Soon. There are some things I know Nyota would be happy to maintain. I will pack them, then join you_ ," Spock told her.

"Good. Me and Bones will meet you at the beam down point with your family," she smiled. "Kirk out."

"Told ya he'd come around," Bones chuckled.

"I wasn't worried," Jim said, pressing a soft kiss against his lips. "You taste like mint."

"You like it," he smiled.

"I do."

* * *

"What's taking you so long, Spock?" Jim asked over the comm as she watched Nyota play with Mini-Spock.

" _As I packed some things, I realized that there is some equipment that would be useful for the settlement. As we cannot return to the ship once I beam down, I thought it prudent to inform you before I departed_ ," Spock said.

"Want me to send a team?" she asked.

" _No need to disturb anyone. You and I would be more than enough to handle it. Perhaps you should beam up to assist me, if you do not mind_ ," her friend made a good point.

"Okay," Jim said into the device before smiling at her husband. "I'll be back."

"I can wait," Bones pressed a kiss against her lips and let her go.

"I'm ready for beam up," she smiled.

" _Energizing_ ," Spock said. One second, she's on the planet and the next second, she's on the ship. "Here she is, the nepotistic idiot who engaged in sexual activities to ensure her command."

"That wasn't very nice," Jim said, tilting her head to the side as she looked at him.

"It wasn't meant to be but as usual, you fail to understand that which is in front of you," he told her.

"I don't understand," she muttered, something nudging at the back of her brain.

"Of course you don't. There is no substance, only appearance. You are nothing more than a famous last name and an aesthetically pleasing figure. Leonard is only with you because he pities you," Spock told her.

"What are you talking about?" Jim asked, the confusion becoming more pronounced.

"This should've been my command but your father died a hero and you were left to be raised by Pike," he growled. "No one could ever deny you things when your adoptive father can call in favors to place you where you want to go. Who would deny a Kirk anything? You've earned nothing."

"Commander, if you'll excuse me," she tried to step past him. She doesn't know what's gotten into him but his words hit her like she'd been punched. He's been her friend since they were teenagers and he's never talked to her like this.

"Are you too afraid to engage me, Jim. I shouldn't be surprised. You hide behind those infinitely your better, using our minds to reach your goals before stealing the credit. You father would be ashamed of you."

Jim stared at him. "What did you just say?"

"George Kirk would be ashamed of you. You're not a captain, you're a prop. Leonard, Pike, Nyota, myself, we are what you wish to be. What you fail to be." She doesn't know what came over her but Jim started swinging. "You know you're not strong enough to fight with me."

"I don't care," she growled before she tried to take him down again. Spock dodged her swings, which only pissed her off more, before he pinned her to the wall. Jim huffed as she glared at him.

"Have you had enough," Spock asked with a smirk as Jim lost all the fight in her body. What the hell was she doing? "I did not realize how much it would take you offend you."

"You did that on purpose," Jim whispered as he let her go. She sat on the edge of the transporter pad and looked up at him. Spock knelt to her level and wiped the tears off her face.

"I did not take pleasure in it and I do apologize. Have you regained full control of yourself?"

"Yea, the spores are gone. I don't _belong_ anymore. How'd you do that?"

"You said they were benevolent and peaceful. Strong and violent emotions overwhelm and destroy them. I had to make you angry or upset enough to remove their influence. That is the answer, Captain."

"As amusing as it might be, we can't fight with everyone. Between the crew, the civilians and the kids, there's almost a thousand of them down there," she pointed out. Jim wasn't sure if she was more pissed off that they were taken over, or that they were gonna have to do something to everyone else to get them back.

"That is correct, Captain, which is why I have another idea. Together, we should be able to build a subsonic transmitter."

"We broadcast a signal using the communications station over the communicators. Almost everyone should be returned to normal and we can round up whoever is left."

"Yes. Unfortunately, my wife sabotaged her station before she beamed to the surface. We will need to make repairs before we can execute a plan."

"I guess we better get to work. Shall we?"

"We shall indeed."

* * *

" _Jimmy darlin', you there_?" came her husband's voice over the comms while she was under Uhura's station.

"I'm here, Bonesy," she answered.

" _I was beginning to worry. You're alright, ain't ya_?" Bones asked.

"Yea. We were just shooting the shit. You wanna come up? It's the last chance to get any of your stuff," Jim said with a smile that he could probably hear.

" _That's not a bad idea darlin'_ ," he said. " _I'm ready to beam up when you are_." Jim put in the commands to beam him straight to the bridge. "Hey, darlin'."

"Hi," she gave him a small smile. "I need to tell you something."

"What's that?" Bones asked. As much as it was gonna hurt her to hurt him, she had to get him back on their side.

"I love Spock more than I love you. That's why I called for him when I was in the warp core. I didn't care what was going on with you, I needed to see him," Jim said, even though it sounded so very wrong.

"What?" her husband gave her a look.

"It's just… we've known each other for so long that getting married was expected and, after everything, I wanted some kind of real family. You're better than nothing, right?"

"Are you kidding me?" Bones yelled. He was about to lay into her but he stopped himself and this look crossed his features. "What just happened?"

"I pissed you off and the spores let you go," she smiled. "There's nothing with Spock and I really do love you. Like hand over the ship before I'd ever leave you kind of love. I just needed to make you mad."

"You were just messing with me?"

"Yes. Ny told me how pissed off you were when Scotty called Spock to the warp core, I just built on it. You okay?" she asked as she stepped closer to him, stopping short of touching him just in case he wasn't okay.

"I'm myself, so yea," he chuckled and pulled her into a hug. "What shenanigans are you two really up to around here?"

"We're trying to break the hold these things have on everyone. You think you can go back down and help us out?" Jim asked.

"How am I supposed to do that?" the southerner asked.

"Sandoval," Spock said.

"We need him to break but he doesn't have a communicator, so he's not gonna get this signal," she sighed.

"I can do that," Bones nodded. Jim pouted. "What?"

"Your accent was more pronounced down there," Jim told him. She always loved his accent, even when they were just friends, but there was something about it after his voice broke that just got to her.

"Well," her husband drawled, "let's get this all taken care of, then I'll say a few things for ya."

"You're evil," she chuckled.

Bones smiled, "That's what you get for hurting my feelings."

* * *

"They will not hear this, it will be a sensation," Spock told her.

"I know. It'll be as though someone put itching power on their skin," Jim nodded. "Ready?"

"I am," he said. Jim gave him a nod and he input the sequence. "It should begin to work on their nerves in a few minutes."

"Okay," she said from his station, monitoring the surface.

" _Jim, come in_ ," Bones said over the comms.

"I'm here, Bones."

" _Sandoval wants to talk to you_ ," he told her.

"They are all beginning to call in, Captain," Spock told her just as Sandoval came on over Bones' communicator.

" _We've done nothing here. No accomplishments, no progress. Years wasted. We wanted to make this planet a garden. Oh, Captain, as I understood it, you were to transport us to Starbase Twenty-seven. We'll give you every cooperation_ ," the colony leader told her.

"Start making preparations, Mister Sandoval. We'll begin transporting your people aboard as soon as more of our crew checks in. May I have the doctor back?" Jim asked with a sigh.

"Yea, Jim?" Bones asked.

"The kids," she said.

"I'm on it. Everyone down here is starting to break from the spores hold," he told her.

"Good. I'll see you when you get home."

* * *

"Well, Jim, I just finished all my paperwork. I see you still have plenty," Bones said as he walked onto their quarters. They dropped off the colonists the day before, after a four day trek.

"I do. The job of a captain is never done. Give me the bullet points."

"They're all in absolutely perfect, perfect health. A fringe benefit left over by the spores."

"We didn't get that lucky, did we?" Jim asked.

"Actually, we did. This is for you," her husband said, handing her a PADD as he sat next to her on the bed. Other than her identifying information and simple stuff like heart rate and pulse ox, she didn't actually know what these numbers were.

"What am I looking at?"

"That," he put his finger on a number, "is your hormone count."

"It's high. Like higher than it should be for someone who irradiated their reproductive system," she muttered.

"I know. I had to check and re-check the numbers. You are no longer in premature ovarian failure. They're functioning perfectly," Bones smiled.

"You mean, we could…?" Jim was too afraid to actually vocalize the words.

"Actually," he smiled and swapped to another screen. "This is an hCG reading from last month, which, as you can see, is nothing like it has been for the last year and half. This is the hCG level from a few days ago when we got back to the ship and this one is from today. So, hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, is a hormone produced by an embryo following implantation. Now, this number is tiny but it's there. This last one…"

"It's higher. Are you saying that I might be pregnant?" she gave him a look.

"There's no 'might' about it. These numbers wouldn't go up otherwise."

"How?"

"The spores. The augment blood I gave you could only fix damage but the spores regenerated damage. It's how organs grew back or unscared themselves. Those spores caused your body to not only heal what that blood couldn't but to return to you to your most healthy physical state."

"So, the spores fixed me, then we went skinny dipping. Because I'm barren... or was, neither of us is on birth control, so..."

"Yep."

"A baby?"

"Our baby," he smiled and rested his hand on her abdomen. "For now, we'll just monitor and see what happens. I don't know if the effect of the spores is gonna wear off."

"It's been about a week and you still have your tonsils. We won't worry about it. Right now, we will just hope for the best and expect the worse."

"I think that is a wise idea," Bones nodded.

"You're excited."

"Maybe."

"Go ahead and do a happy dance."

Bones hopped up and did a cute little dance, "You have to dance too."

"No, I don't," Jim laughed. "I'll hold off my excitement until we know more. It's only logical."

"You spend too much time with Spock," he chuckled.

"Blasphemy," she smiled before looking at the PADD in her hands again. "You think we can do this? Like actually do this?"

"I think there's not much we can't do. Especially when we're together."


End file.
